Game-board



(No Model.)

J. F. PRAN'KEYQ GAME BOARD.

No. 421,259. Patehted Feb. 11-, 1 90.

JAMES F. FRANKEY, or

ATENT OFFICE...

DODGE CITY, KANSAS.

GAME-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.421,259, dated February11, 1890.

Application filed July 22, 1889- Improvements in Game-Boards; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear,'and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying draw- Ings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to games of amusement, and especially togame-boards requiring a certain skill in manipulation to accomplish theresult aimed at.

It consists in a board provided with suitable inclosing walls or ledges,and containing two or more compartmentscommunicating by an opening oropenings, each guarded by a suitable gate, which is controlled by amovable object in one of the compartments, the other compartment orcompartments being provided with another object or objects adapted topass through the gateway when the gate is opened.

The game consists in so manipulating the board as to cause the propermovable object to open the gate, and then to cause the other movableobject to pass through the gateway, the board being substantially aplane surface, and the movable objects being free to move under theinfluence of gravity when the board is inclined from the horizontal.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of V a board having fourcompartmentsand two gates, both gates being shown as closed. Fig. 2 is across-section on line 00 3 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail, and Fig. t is anend view of one of the gates.

The board A is flat and smooth, and may be of any convenient size. Thedrawings represent the full size of a board that is well adapted for thepurpose. It may be of any desired shape, and is surrounded by a wall orledge 13, to prevent the escape of the movable objects. The inelosure isdivided into two compartments by a partition 0, which runs parallel withone side wall and incloses a long narrow space or lane a. The rest ofthe Serial No. 318,274. (No model.)

inclosure is divided into two compartments a (1, by means of a partitionD, in which is an opening d, constituting a.door or gateway between thetwo compartments a" a WVithin one of the compartments a a is anothercompartment or pen a inclosed by a wall E. The pen may be covered, ifdesired. Agateway 6 is provided at one end of the pen. The gateways maybe protected by buttresses d and e, if. desired. by a gate F F,preferably closed by gravity, and adapted to be opened by a movableobjectin the. lane a. The gates are preferably arranged to be raised andlowered, and may Each gateway is guarded be constructed of wire in theform of bent levers or rock-shafts suitably journaled in standards G.The gates are carried on the long arms of the levers, and the short armsf ject attempting to leave the compartment can easily raise and passunder them, while they must be entirely raised to permit the object toenter the compartments. The long arms of the levers may be steadied by aslotted guide H, or by a slot e in the partition of the compartment.

The movable objects are preferably balls I and K, the former being ofheavy material, such as lead, and being placed in the lane a. To guideit, a grooved track or filling-piece A may be fitted into the lane. Astop-pin L is inserted into a hole in the board near each end of thelane, the part that enters the hole being at one edge of the pin, asshown in Fig. 3. The pin is so arranged with reference to the lever-armf that when placed as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 the ball I can rollwell up on the flattened side of the lever, and be less easily dislodgedby subsequent movements of theboard. This result can be aided byslightly hollowin g the edge of the stop-pin, as shown at Z. If,however, the stop-pin is turned to the dotted-line position, the ball Iis with difficulty maintained in position upon the end of the lever, andthe task of getting the balls K into the pen a is rendered far lesseasy.

ICO

The game, as is evident from the foregoing description, consists inplacing one or more balls K in the compartment a and then manipulatingthe board so as to cause the ball I to raise the gate F and admit theballs K to the compartment a from which they are then to be transferredto the pen a the ball I being made to open the gate F. These results areto be accomplished by simply tilting the board one way and anotherwithout touching the balls with the fingers.

It is evident that the number of compartments, gates, and balls can bevaried at pleasure, as also the shape of the board and the compartments,the essential features being the gates controlled by a movable objectindependent of another movable object which is to pass through thegateway.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is 1. A game-board provided with two or morecompartments having a gateway between them, a gate guarding saidgateway, a movable object adapted to open and close said gate, andanother movable object adapted to pass through the gateway,substantially as described.

2. A game-board provided with two or more compartments having a gatewaybetween them, a movable object adapted to pass through the gateway, agate guarding. said gateway and adapted to open automatically to permitthe passage of the movable object from one compartment to the other inone direction but not in the other, and a second movable object adaptedto open said gate to permit the passage of the first-named object ineither direction, substantially as described.

3. A game-board having a lane a at one side and two other compartmentswith a gateway between them, a gate guarding said gateway, said gateconsisting of a lever, the long arm of which constitutes the gate andthe short arm projects into the lane a, a ball I, free to roll in thelane and engage with the lever to open the gate, and a ball K, adaptedto pass through the gateway, substantially as described. I

at. The combination, with a game -b0ard having the lane a, at one sideand two or more compartment-s with a gateway between them, of a gateguarding the gateway, consisting of a lever having its short endprojecting into the lane a, a ball I, to engage with the lever, and anadjustable stop-pin L to regulate the position of the ball withreference to the lever, substantially as described.

I11 testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two-witnesses.

.TAMESF. FRANKEY. Witnesses:

D. M. FRosT, H. MCGARRY.

